Method of casting alloys.



No. 729,754. PATENTED JUNE 2,1903;

GATES,

METHOD OF CASTING ALLOYS.

APPLIOATION FILED JAIL 13, 1903.

2 sums-simm- 1.

no konm No. 729,754. PATENTBD JUNE 2, 1903.

E. GATES.

METHOD OF CASTING ALLOYS.

APPLIOATIOKIILED JAN. 13, 1903.

UNITED STATES Patented June 2, 1903.

PATENT @FFIGE.

ELMER GATES, or oHEvY CHASE; MARY AN ASSIGNORTOTHEODORE J.

MAYER, or WASI-IIANGTON, DISTRICT or COLUMBIA,

|y| ETHOD omits NG ALLOYS.

SIECIFIGA'I'ION forming part of Letters Patent No. 729,754, dated 'J'un'e 2, 1903.

Application filed -Tanuary 18,

To aZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ELMER GATES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chevy Chase, county of Montgomery, State of Maryland; haveinvented certain new and useful Im-l provements in Methods of CastingAlloys; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the in-.

vention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which itap'pertainsto make and use the same.

My invention relates to the production of alloys, and has for its objectto provide a method of producing a series of alloys in the form of anintegral bar or of a series of small ingots, exhibiting in successioncombinations of two or more metals selected for the purpose, varying inthe relative proportions of the constituent metals, whereby at a minimumexpenditure of time and labor and at a small expense the operator hasjathand an entire series of different combinations of the metals chosen andis therefore in-a position to make a comprehensive study thereof, so asto determine their several physical properties and theiravailabilityforuse in thearts;

In carrying out my invention I mixthe;

metals from which thealloy bars or pigsare' to be made while they areflowing from suit able tanks or reservoirs on the way to the molds, andin this mixing operation it is e'ssential that the metals be combined incon stantly and reciprocally varying percentages or proportions. To thisend Ifind it desirable to employ at a suitable height or elevation atank or reservoir containing'inseparate compartments the metals fromwhich the alloy bars or pigs are to be made, each compartment beingprovided with an outlet or discharge ope11ing.- The metals flow from thetank or. reservoir into a mixing-chamber, wherein they become thoroughlycommingled or combined, and from said chamber they discharge intothecasting-mold, which in some instances will be of form suitable toproduce a continuous integral alloy bar and in other instances adaptedto produce a series of alloy pigs. In either case the relativeproportions of constituent metals vary in a predetermined manner fromone section to another ierial No. 138,814. (No specimens.)

- of the bar or from one pig to another of the series.

7 In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 illustrate one form ofapparatus for carrying out my improved method, and Fig. 3 is adiagrammatic View indicating the relative proportions or percentages ofconstituent metals in alloy bars or pigs produced by the practice oftheinvention.

1 Inthe form of apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2, A represents asuitable supportin base mounted on standards B, and O represents asupply tank or reservoir arranged at -a convenient height andmountedupon supports D, the lower ends of which are secured to the baseor platform A. The tank is held in place upon the brackets by means ofbolts 19, passing through the brackets from beneath and entering thetank from the bottom near the forward end thereof. The said bolts 1)also serve to secure to the bottom or under side of the tank, at asuitable distance apart, two short strips or sections 0 c; of metal,having horizontal flanges (Z d, which constitute a support for themixing device specifically referred to hereinafter. The tank 0 in thepresent instance is divided by a partition into .two compartments 6 6,each compart- 'ment being provided with a discharge-openin g (g; formedin the'detachable front wall h of the tank, said openings dischargingthe met- .als, directly from the bottom of the tank.

In some instances in the operation of my invention it is desirable thatthe flow of the metals through the outlets g be suddenly and completelyout off at intervals, and for this purpose I provide for each of a saidoutlets a vertically-operating gate H, moving in vertical guides 70,secured to the outer face of the front wall It of the tankbymeansof-screws Z or their equivalent. The'said gates are each providedwith an operating-handle. m, and each gateis provided witha verticalslot 0, through which passes a screwp, which enters a threaded openingtherefor in the wall 71.. The shanks of the said screws are enlarged atq to overlap the edges of the vertical slots .0 in the gates, and eachshank is provided also with a handle 0*, by means of which the same maybe turned in either direction. The

screws therefore serve as set-screws to securely lock the gates in anyposition to which they may be raised.

The means for effecting the gradual opening and closing of the twooutlets g simultaneously consists of a slide M, moving transverselyacross said outlets and formed with d ports 2/] and 10, which areseparated by a small plate 50, secured to the frontof the tank by screws:27, as shown, and serving as a stop for limiting the movement of theslide'in either direction. The slide is guided by two angle-plates y y,also secured to the outet face of the wall 72 of the tank. The slide Mcan be operated in a variety of ways; but as a simple and effectivemeans therefor I secure to the outer face of the same, at or near theend, a toothed rack M, which is engaged by a toothed pinion 6 carried bya vertical shaft N, which near its lower end turns in a sleeve orbearing N, formed at the lower end of a pendent arm or bracket 0, whichat its upper end is secured to the under side of the tank 0. The upperpart of the said vertical shaft turns in bearings (Z (1 above and belowthe pinion 12 At its lower end the vertical shaft N is provided with abeveled gearwheel P, which is engaged by a beveled pinion P, carried atthe inner end of a main operating-shaft Q, which is provided at itsouter end with an operating crank or handle Q. Said shaft Qis supportedin bearings R R, secured to the base or platform. A, and it is evidentthat by turning the same in one direction or the other the slide M willbe moved accordingly. The shaft Q also carries a large pinion S,engaging a toothed rack S, for operating the movable bed-plate T ormoldcarrier, which carries the mold in which the alloy bars or pigs areformed. This feature of the apparatus will be more fully explainedhereinafter.

The mixing device hereinbefore referred to consists, preferably, of oneor more mixingcompartnients F F F", which are in communication with eachother and the lower one of which empties or discharges into the moldbeneath. Said mixing device may be constructed in various ways; butpreferably I form the upper compartment F substantially oval orelliptical in top plan and contracted or reduced in size at its lowerend, forming a neck portionf substantially circular in shape and havinga passage g through which the mixed metals pass into the next lowercompartment F below. The said section or chamber F of the mixing deviceis provided with a horizontal partition having openings, as shown. Themetals flow on this plate from the openings 9 in the tank and thencepass through the partition. In some instances the said compartment F canbe used alone; but preferably I employ the additional compartments toinsure the thorough mixing of the metals. Compartment F of the mixingdevice is substantially the same in construction strip at the endsthereof.

as F, excepting that the body of the same is circular in top plan. It isformed with a similar neck f having a passage 9 and it is similarlyprovided with a perforated spreading-plate or partition. The compartmentF is secured to the neck f of the upper section by means of set-screws fThe third and lowermost compartment F of the mixing device is preciselythe same in construction as the section F and it is secured to thelatter by means of set-screws f It has a passage g discharging the metalinto any suitable mold. The metals flowing into F from the tank willpass successively into F and F as shown by the arrows, and in this waywill become thoroughly mixed. It will be understood that the metals willpass through the outlet-passage g of the lower chamber F insubstantially the same constantly-varying proportions in which theyleave the outletopenings g of the tank.

The movable bed-plate T, as hereinbefore mentioned, is provided with atoothed rack S, engaged by the pinion S for moving the said bed-plateback and forth beneath the outlet g Said bed-plate is provided withwheels which travel on the rails 00, secured to the base A, and from theconstruction and arrangement shown it will be seen that when the shaft Qis turned the bed-plate will be moved, as will also the slide M forvarying the metal discharge.

I may obtain the castings in the form of pigs, in which case I secure inplace upon the bed-plate the mold V (shown in Figs. 1 and 2) and whichis formed with a series of cavities V, which receive the metal as thebed-plate is moved beneath the mixer. To preyent the metals from flowingout at the ends of the in old beds or cavities V, I arrange along eachside of the mold a plate V, which is flanged at V and secured to thebed-plate by screws :1 Said plates effectually close the ends of themold-cavities in an obvious manner, and they also hold the mold in placeupon the bedplate. I also provide in the top of the bedplate additionalscrew-holes x 00 arranged closer together than the screws m so that thesaid plates W can be readily brought closer together and secured inplace whenever it is de= sired to employ a narrower mold V than the oneherein shown. Also secured to the bedplate some distance to one side ofthe mold is an additional plate'W which is in position to serve asimilar purpose for very wide molds.

In order to obtain the casting in the form of a single bar, I lay a Hatmetal strip upon the movable bed-plate, which fits snugly between thetwo side plates WV, (shown in Fig. 2,) which side plates WV extend abovethe upper surface of the strip Z as shown, and also at each end of saidstrip a similar but shorter plate is employed to confine the metal onthe In this way a continuous mold is formed on top of the strip, intowhich the combined metals flow during the movement of the bed-platebeneath the outlet g of the mixing device, and the casting produced isof the bar shape.

Having described one form of apparatus adapted for the practice of myinvention, I will now briefly describe several ways in which the samecan be operated. 'The compartments of the tank A are first filled orpartially filled with the fluid metals to be alloyed-for instance,copper and zinc-the gates II having previously been forced down tocompletely close the discharge-openings g of said compartments. The moldV, Figs. 1 and 2, is also moved by the bed-plateinto proper receivingposition beneath the outlet f of the mixing device F, so that theforemost cavity V thereof shall receive the first or initial quantity ofthe combined metals, while as the plate is moved forward by turning thecrank O the remaining mold-cavities will be successively filled inregular sequence. The proper rate of speed at which to move thebed-plate is determined by the rapidity with which the metal flowsthrough the mixer, and

the rate of flow of the metals from the tank is of course governedpartly by the discharge capacity of the outlet 9 and partly by the rateof movement of the slide M. I The mold being in place and the gatesdown, as explained, the slide M should be in position to close outlet wand open outlet 10. If at the time of starting the said slide M is notin the position indicated, then it should be so placed by the operator,which can readily be done byhand after slightly lifting the shaft N todisengage the pinion b Everything being thus in readiness, the gates H Hare quickly raised and the shaft Q is started into motion. As soon asthe gates are raised the fluid zine begins to flow in a full stream; butthe slide M having immediately started to move across the outlets thesaid stream is gradually out 01f or diminished in size. At the same timethe outlet g for the fluid copper is gradually opened, and thus thismetal. is caused to flow out in a stream of gradual]y-increasing size.In this way the two metals are caued to flow into the mixing device,respectively, in gradually diminish ing and increasing proportions, andthey also flow through the mixer and are deposited in the mold-cavitiesin substantially the same proportions from end to end of themold. Afterthe slide M has reached the limit of its movement in one direction theoutlets g are cut oif by the gates long enough to permit the emptying ofthe pigs from themold or until anew mold is placed in. position upon thebed-plate, whereupon the same operation can be repeated reversely bymerely turning the crank or handle Q in the opposite direction. A seriesof alloys thus cast in the form of pigs will have varying proportions orpercentages of the two metals, and each pig or alloywill have adifferent proportion from the others.

With the alloy bar produeedby the modified mold referred to above thesame variation in the proportions of the two metals is found to existfrom end to end of the bar. In this connection reference is made to thedis grammatic views, Fig. 3, which indicates such variations by scaledegrees. The casting of the bar is supposed to have been started withthe outlet for the zinc closed and the outlet for the copper open to itsmaximum capacity. Thus in a bar having twenty equal divisions, eachsubdivided into five equal subdivisions or degrees we have at zero nozinc and one hundred per cent. of copper. At the first degree of thefirst division of the sealethere is found one per cent. of zinc andninety-nine per cent. of copper at the second degree two per cent. ofzinc and ninety-eight per cent. of copper, and so on to the other end inthe same relatively diminishing and increasing ratio. 1

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- The method ofproducing a succession of alloys varying in relative proportions of theconstituent metals, which consists in cansing streams of the meltedcomponent metals to intermingle, one of said streams graduallyincreasing while the other gradually decreases, thereby producing acombined stream correspondingly varying in relative proportions of thecomponent metals from the beginning to the end of the casting operation,and finally casting said combined stream to produce a productcorresponding to the rate of flow, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- ELMER GATES. Witnesses EDWIN S. GLARKsoN, JOHN G. PENNIE.

